Building the original Klipsch Heresy

[adrock]

I am wanting to build a pair of Heresys. Can anybody tell me where to buy parts or if it is even possible? If not, what is the best year to get?

[Malcolm]

Best source of parts is eBay. FWIW you can buy complete Heresys for less than you can buy the components. Different folks have different preferences. The Heresy was built from 1957 to 1985. Ignoring the very earliest that used different components, all had either the K-77 (alnico) or K-77-M (ceramic) tweeter. The K-77-M has a couple dB better response above about 11 kHz. All except the last few years used a K-55-V squawker driver on a K-700 horn. The last couple years had K-52-H or K-53-K drivers. Lots of different woofers were used. There were at least three alnico woofers, one from EV, two from CTS, all labelled K-22. And there were serveral ceramic versions labelled K-22-E, K-22-EF, K-22-K, etc. To tie this all together, there were four different crossover networks: Types C, D, E, E2.

IMHO the best tweeter is the K-77-M. But I cannot hear the difference between it and the K-77. Best squawker driver is the K-55-V. That leaves woofers. My choice would be the EV manufactured K-22. A type C network would be appropriate for this combination. OTOH a K-22-K would allow for louder bass because of improved power handling capability and Xmax. Then you would use a type E network.

Best complete Heresys IMHO would be mid 60s with the EV woofer, or late 70s to early 80s with K-77-M and K-55-V. The last couple years with the different squawkers aren't necessarily worse. They just have a slightly different timbre in the midrange. Some folks prefer them.